7mm Rem Mag

Southpa - you're having the 1-gun battery dilemma most everyone struggles with eventually. Lots of threads on this very topic.

I'm a lot like you, though a little more conservative in going long. Of course shot placement is everything, but it's also necessary to have enough hammer for the nail....

For distances out to ~800 for elk/deer/speed goats (anything except things that can bite back), I've pretty well decided on staying with 7mm. I have a Rem Mag currently, but am saving up pennies to have a 7mm/300 built for the extra margin of HP to that distance.

For longer than that and at elk sized game and bigger, I think a fast 338 is the right medicine. It's another rifle, but that distance/hunting is another game altogether.

However, these are just my thoughts/opinions and other folks have their experiences to guide them.

This article influenced my thinking immensely. I don't have the expertise to "prove" or dis-prove what Bryan asserts, but he works in this stuff every day and his assertion seems reasonable to me.

I'm the same way. It made me rethink caliber choices. Now that Berger is making the 30 caliber 210 VLD Hunting and the 215 gr. and 230 grain Hybrids, I'd like to see Bryan Litz revisit the topic. I wonder is he would still reach the same conclusions.

__________________ WHEN YOU HUNT LONG RANGE, SOME TIMES THE SHOT IS THE TROPHY.

I'm the same way. It made me rethink caliber choices. Now that Berger is making the 30 caliber 210 VLD Hunting and the 215 gr. and 230 grain Hybrids, I'd like to see Bryan Litz revisit the topic. I wonder is he would still reach the same conclusions.

If you havenít already done so pick up or borrow a copy of Bryan's new book "Accuracy and Precision for Long Range Shooting." He uses mostly computer analysis with some actual field testing for ballistics comparison for not only target shooting but also for long range hunting.

It's well worth the read especially the shot probability analysis with different calibers under different confidence conditions. For the most part as you move through the book from small to bigger calibers probability increase along with distance.

Yes 7mm mag will work and it does not have to be 18lbs to be accurate. A light rifle can shoot very well. I have never noticed a difference between a 7mm and a 300 win for killing and I have shot many big game animals with both at short range and long range.

I say just build you a 7mmSTW and be done with it. greater capacity than 300 WinMag, and a 7mm Bullet. Flatter, faster, more KE, insane trajectory, and highly underestimated since people seem to be on this "big-bore" overkill fad right now.

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"I'm just a peckerwood who lives in the hills with too many guns..." - Bob Lee Swagger